Thursday, May 22, 2014

We have spoken in previous years about
the census conducted in this week’s parshah, Parshas Bamidbar. This census, from
which the Sefer takes its’ English name-Numbers, was the third one conducted
since Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim. The practical purpose of this census was to
set up the positions Bnei Yisrael would take around the Mishkan on their travels
through the desert on their way to Eretz Yisrael. Each tribe was counted
separately and then divided into groups of three with each group assigned one
of the four sides of the camp to travel on and make camp.

“לִבְנֵי יוֹסֵף לִבְנֵי אֶפְרַיִם תּוֹלְדֹתָם
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם”“Of the children of Yosef: of the children of Efraim, their
descendants according to their families” (Bamidbar 1:32). Each one of the
pesukim that count the tribes starts the same way with the word “לִבְנֵי”.
By the children of Yosef, however, it works a little differently. Yosef’s
children made up two of the twelve tribes due to a blessing given to them by
Yaakov back in Parshas Vayechi. As such, the pasuk introduces Yosef as an
introduction to his children’s tribes with the word “לִבְנֵי”. The Baal Haturim
asks, how come the pasuk needs to repeat “לִבְנֵי” before Efraim’s and
Menashe’s names as well? The pasuk has already introduced the tribes of Efraim
and Menashe as Yosef’s sons!

He answers based on a famous medrash that
when Yaakov died, he commanded his sons to take specific positions around his
body when they carried it to Eretz Yisrael. These positions that they took on
the four sides of the body became the same positions their tribes traveled on
in the desert. However, Yaakov did not allow Yosef to carry the body as it was
below his dignity as the king of Mitzrayim. Instead, his son, Efraim, took his
place. (His son, Menashe, took Levi’s place. Levi was not allowed to carry the
body as well due to the honor afforded him by his descendant’s future position
as the Kohanim and Levi’im-also discussed in this week’s parshah.) Therefore,
says the Baal Haturim, the pasuk is required to re-introduce Efraim and Menashe,
so to speak, when their tribes are counted.

Another famous discussion found here is
the fact that Efraim’s tribe was counted before Menashe’s even though Efraim
was the younger son. As we know from Parshas Vayechi, Yaakov gave Efraim the
tribe of Yosef’s first-born rights over Menashe. Those rights include his being
mentioned first in the Torah. This is generally the explanation given as to why
Efraim’s tribe is counted first. The Ramban points out, however, that in the
next census, Menashe is mentioned before Efraim! He explains that in terms of
having their names mentioned first by the census, it does not have to do with
the firstborn rights, but rather to do with which tribe had the greater
population. At this point, Efraim had the bigger population, so he is listed
first. Later on, Menashe has the bigger population, so he is listed first.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Parshas Bechukosai contains one of the
most serious passages in the Torah, known as the Tochachah. The Tochachah
appears twice in the Torah, once here and once in Parshas Ki Savo in Sefer
Devarim. It informs Bnei Yisrael about the potential downfall that awaits them
if they do not keep the Torah.

If you look closely at the pesukim,
there are several key differences between the Tochachah written here and the
one in Ki Savo. The Ramban explains that the Tochachah here is telling Bnei
Yisrael what will happen by the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash and the
following exile in Bavel, and what will happen by the destruction of the second
Beis Hamikdash and in the subsequent exile we remain in until this day. He
proceeds to prove this directly from the words in the pesukim in fascinating
fashion.

There is a separate reason for the
destruction of each Beis Hamikdash and each exile was different as well. The
first Beis Hamikdash was destroyed as a result of Bnei Yisrael serving Avoda
Zara. The pasuk in this week’s parshah says, “וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּי אֶת בָּמֹתֵיכֶם
וְהִכְרַתִּי אֶת חַמָּנֵיכֶם וְנָתַתִּי אֶת פִּגְרֵיכֶם עַל פִּגְרֵי
גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם” “I will demolish your edifices and
cut down your sun idols; I will make your corpses (fall) upon the corpses of
your idols” (Vayikra 26:30). We see the pasuk speaks clearly about Hashem
destroying Avoda Zara belonging to the Jews. The very next pasuk reads, “וַהֲשִׁמּוֹתִי אֶת מִקְדְּשֵׁיכֶם
וְלֹא אָרִיחַ בְּרֵיחַ נִיחֹחֲכֶם” “And I will make your holy places
desolate, and I will not partake of your pleasant fragrances” (26:31). Hashem
says He will not be partaking of these aromas, meaning that they must be coming
from korbanos in the Beis Hamikdash (otherwise it would be obvious that He wouldn’t
be partaking of them). So we see that the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash
will be directly connected to the fact that Bnei Yisrael will have idols. This
actually did happen many hundreds of years later. (See Yirmiyahu 32.)

Additionally, the Torah also “predicts”
exactly how long that exile would last. (You will understand why I put that
word in quotations later.) The pasuk gives the reason for the first exile as, “אָז תִּרְצֶה הָאָרֶץ אֶת
שַׁבְּתֹתֶיהָ כֹּליְמֵי הָשַּׁמָּה וְאַתֶּם בְּאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיכֶם אָז תִּשְׁבַּת
הָאָרֶץ וְהִרְצָת אֶת שַׁבְּתֹתֶיהָ” Then, the
land will be appeased regarding its’ sabbaticals. During all the days that it
remains desolate while you are in the land of your enemies, the land will rest
and thus appease its’ sabbaticals.” (26:34). The pasuk is saying that the
land will remain empty of the Jewish people until the amount of desecrated shmittah
years can be had by the land. Rashi in Pasuk 35 makes a calculation and figures
out that seventy shmittah years had been ignored by Bnei Yisrael since they had
entered the land with Yehoshua. The length of the first galus in Bavel was seventy
years!

There are also references in the pesukim
for how Bnei Yisrael returned from that galus. Looking at Perek 26 pesukim 40
and 42, they don’t mention anything about the nation making a full repentance (though
it does mention them regretting their sins in the Sifrei Neviim,) or Hashem
completely forgiving them for said sins. It also only mentions that Hashem will
remember His promise to the Avos and the fact that Eretz Yisrael lies
desolate; it does not mention anything about the nation. We know that when Bnei
Yisrael came back from Bavel, only the tribes of Yehuda and Binyamin returned,
along with a smattering of Levi. They came back very poor people and with Eretz
Yisrael still under Persian rule. It’s very clear that these pesukim are
speaking about events that actually happened hundreds of years from this point when
they were said to Moshe!

The Tochachah written later in Sefer
Devarim is referring to the second exile. If you read through the pesukim
there, they make no mention of when the exile will end and show that the entire
redemption depends on the repentance done by Bnei Yisrael. We know ourselves
from everything that has been taught to us about our current exile that this is
true. The pesukim also do not reference any particular sin like they do in our parshah.
Rather, the pasuk simply states, “וְהָיָה אִם לֹא תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר
לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל מִצְו‍ֹתָיו” “And it will be, if you do not obey Hashem, your God, to
observe to fulfill all His commandments” (Devarim 28:15).

Among
the curses foretold are that the nation that will drive you out of the land will
come from far away and speak a language you do not recognize; this was not
stated here in Parshas Bechukosai. This is exactly what happened. In the time
of the first exile, the Jews were exiled to Bavel, a country bordering Eretz
Yisrael with a language very similar to Hebrew. In the time of the second exile,
the enemy came from Rome, far away from Eretz Yisrael, and spoke Latin,
a language not at all similar to Hebrew.

The
promise of redemption is different as well. In Sefer Devarim, Hashem promises
to bring all of the tribes back from galus, and promises to punish the two
nations who always pursue us through the Galus. (See Devarim 30:7.) According
to the Ramban, these two nations are Esav and Yishmael, the two nations who
have consistently tortured us throughout these last two thousand years.

These
are just a few of the many different clues the Ramban finds in the pesukim both
in Parshas Bechukosai and in Parshas Ki Savo. I strongly encourage anyone who
is able to look through it themselves.

As
with every bad event we read about in the Torah, if we look closely, it is
possible to see Hashem giving us a sign that all will be ok. The obvious explanation
here is that Hashem does promise to bring us back out of this galus, and
if the pesukim in our Parshah came true then surely the pesukim in
Parshas Ki Savo will come true too. However, there is something more to take
out of this. Nowadays more than ever, we are challenged from many different
directions as to the truth of the Torah. Many educated people have come up with
different explanations that the Torah might not be from Hashem, Chas V’Shalom,
and sometimes these “proofs” can appear concrete enough to challenge our
beliefs. When we look at parshiyos like this one, where everything that would
unfold over the next millennium was foretold with such precision
in the pesukim, can we have any doubt that the Torah comes directly from
Hashem?

Friday, May 9, 2014

Parshas Behar discusses the important mitzvos of shmittah and Yovel.
The mitzvah of shmittah is that every seventh year, the farmers in Eretz
Yisrael are obligated to let their land lie fallow; the only work permitted is
in order to prevent the fields from completely deteriorating, but in no way are
they allowed to plant, harvest, or prepare the fields for future use. The
Yovel, or jubilee year, is the fiftieth year of the shmittah cycle. The laws of
shmittah are again observed and in addition, all Jewish slaves are freed, any property
sold since the last Yovel is returned to the original owner, and all debts are absolved.
The purpose of all these laws is, among other things, to show us that
everything we own really belongs to Hashem. It is only through his kindness
that we have these things.

In ancient times, life and death was
decided by how the crops went. To not plant anything was suicide! By taking the
year off from planting and by returning our hard-earned land, we show how it
all was a gift from Hashem in the first place, and He will continue to provide
for us in the future. The mitzvah of shmittah, and its’ lesson, is so
important, that the pasuk teaches us that the reason for our exile following the
destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash was because we did not keep shmittah.
As the pasuk says in next week’s parshah, “אז תרצה הארץ את
שבתותיה”, “Then the land will
receive its’ sabbatical year” (Vayikra
26:34), when everyone is in exile and there is no one to plant, the land will
finally receive the shmittah years it had coming to it.

“וְסָפַרְתָּ לְךָ שֶׁבַע שַׁבְּתֹת שָׁנִים שֶׁבַע
שָׁנִים שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים”“And
you shall count for yourselves seven sabbatical years, seven years seven
times.” (25:8). The Kli Yakar points out an
interesting idea regarding the time span of Yovel. The pasuk in Tehillim
(90:10) says that the typical length of a man’s life is seventy years. Because
a person is not considered of punishable age by the Heavenly Court until the age
of twenty, you subtract those first twenty years, and it comes out that the
average life span of a person is fifty years. So when the pasuk tells you to
count forty-nine years, it is not only referring to the Yovel cycle, it is also
saying that a person should count the years of their life! The idea of Yovel referring
to the life cycle of a person can be explained as follows.

There are two ways to live your life.
The first way is to live a life filled with spiritual enjoyment. In this way,
you fulfill the Torah and end up creating an amazing reward for yourself in the
World To Come. In that way, these years truly become “לְךָ”, for you.
They become something you can take pride in and point to as an achievement. On
the flip side, someone who lives their life filled with emptiness, this same
word “לְךָ”
can still be applied, except it will not apply to you as you have not built
anything for yourself that you can be truly proud of.

But as long as we can work our fields,
as long as we are in this world, what difference does it make! But then, the
fiftieth year arrives, the year of Yovel, and according to our parable, the
last year of life. At this point, there is nothing left for you to do. You
cannot plow any more, you cannot plant anymore. At this point, everyone is
equal, everything that you built in this world is given away, you cannot take
it with you. But what is the legacy you leave behind from what you built here,
is it one of grandeur or one of ruin?

This, explains the Kli Yakar, is why
Hashem set up Yovel as a year where we cannot plant and all the slaves are
freed and all property is returned. Just as these actions show that the land
belongs to Hashem, so too our own actions have a time where they must
cease. We are not the owners of our land here, we are merely renters whose
lease has expired. The idea of Yovel is to remind us that not only does our
property in the physical world have an expiration date, but so do we. And just
as we use our property to create something lasting for ourselves before we must
return it to the original owner, so too we must make sure our actions create
something lasting before we are returned to our owner. If we do this, we
can then become more than a “renter” from Hashem, we can become residents
of Olam Haba, right next to the Shechinah.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

While the overall tone of Parshas Emor
is celebratory, the ending is anything but. A big part of this week’s parshah discusses
many details concerning the chagim; in fact, parts of this week’s parshah are
read on the various holidays. However, the parshah’s ending does not give much
cause to celebrate.

“וַיֵּצֵא בֶּן אִשָּׁה יִשְׂרְאֵלִית וְהוּא בֶּן אִישׁ
מִצְרִי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּנָּצוּ בַּמַּחֲנֶה בֶּן
הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית וְאִישׁ הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִי” “And the son of
the Jewish woman, who was the son of an Egyptian man, went out among the people
of Israel. And they fought in the camp, the son of the Jewish woman and the
Jewish man.” (Vayikra 24:10). The Torah itself does not give too many
details, but the story is that these two men, one with a non-Jewish father, got
into a fight in the middle of the camp. The pesukim go onto describe how the “son
of the Jewish mother” used Hashem’s name in vain in a way that warranted death.
The parshah ends with the details of his execution.

While this is not a happy story, as
always, the reason the Torah writes it down is to teach us a valuable lesson.
The Kli Yakar asks a simple question, how come the Torah does not use the names
of either of these two men, instead using pronouns based on their parents’
lineage? He explains that anyone who would rush into a fight like this
obviously is not someone well-known for their great and noble deeds. Because of
their actions, not only are there names not written, but their parents names
are not written as well! Such is the effect of their fighting. The only thing
they have left is their yichus, their lineage of the Jewish people, and that’s
what’s mentioned in the Torah.